Month: June 2020

Your business’s survival depends on hiring the right people, yet, finding the best employees can be difficult. If you don’t have effective interviewing skills, you risk losing a brilliant candidate, or worse hiring a person that’s not qualified for the job.

In a competitive graduate job market, conducting effective interviews is more important than ever. While you’re sizing up a candidate, that person is also considering you as a potential employer.

The key to successful recruitment is having clear objectives and a consistent technique for assessing candidates.

When interviewing candidates for an open position, you have a limited time to cover a significant amount of information. Interviewing techniques are useful strategies that can help you effectively and efficiently evaluate candidates so you make the right hiring decision.

5 effective interview techniques for employers

Here are the top 5 interview techniques HR professionals use to choose the right candidate for the job:

1. Traditional interview

You’ve probably most familiar with the traditional job interview technique you know, the one where you ask your candidates about their skills and experiences in order to find out if they’re a good fit for your open job position.

Traditional interviews come in many shapes and sizes. For example, a traditional interview can be structured, unstructured or semi-structured. It can also be a one-on-one interview, a panel interview or even a group interview. A traditional interview can be conducted in the form of a phone screening interview, video interview or a face to face interview.

The problem with traditional interview technique is that is has been proven ineffective in certain areas. According to LinkedIn’s report, which surveyed over 9,000 recruiters and hiring managers, the traditional interviewing technique has many weaknesses.

For example, traditional interview technique is especially bad at assessing soft skills and understanding candidate weaknesses. It also leaves room for recruitment bias, takes a lot of time, and relies on asking the right interview questions to get a clear picture of a candidate.

This is why many HR professionals have started experimenting with innovative, out-of-the-box interview techniques.

2. Job simulation

Job simulation (sometimes also called job audition) is the most popular innovative interview technique. Job simulations are becoming increasingly popular among employers because they help companies predict if a candidate if a good fit for a role more accurately.

In a job simulation, a candidate is asked to complete a task they would actually do if they were hired. In other words, when you use this interview technique, you don’t ask candidates to tell you about their about their skills. Instead, you directly observe candidates’ skills and performance.

Besides for employer, job simulations are also beneficial for candidates, too. By taking part in a job simulation, candidates get a real-life job preview, which helps them assess how much they really like to job. Simply put, they can try out a job and see if it fits!

Besides giving your candidates a certain task, job simulations can take on a more elaborated form. For example, you can organize a competition (such as hackathon), or invite your candidate to join your employees in a brainstorming session and help them solve a real-life problem your company is currently facing.

3. Casual interview

Another popular interview technique is a so-called casual interview. With a casual interview technique, a candidate is being interviewed outside the office, usually over a meal. Inviting candidates for breakfast, lunch or dinner offers a unique opportunity to observe candidates in a more casual setting.

This interview technique is especially beneficial if you want to assess your candidates’ communication and social skills. It will also allow you to spend more time with your candidates and get to know them better. As a result, you can gain a deeper insight into your candidate’s personality.

Casual interviews can do wonders for your candidate experience. Since most employers still stick with a quick in and out of the office interview, inviting your candidates over for a meal will make them feel special. They will also appreciate you taking the time to get to know them on a more personal note.

Some employers even go that far to incorporate an additional test into this interview technique. The most famous example is the case of an interview technique devised by Walt Bettinger, chief executive of Charles Schwab Corporation. He gets to the restaurant early and asks the waiter to mess up his candidate’s order – and then he observes how the candidate will react.

4. Virtual interview

In the last few years, we heard a lot about VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality). These technologies have been announced as the next big thing that will completely change the way we live and interview. Using VR and AR, employers can now engage with candidates in a virtual job interview.

Virtual interview technique was first used at college career fairs to attract the attention of a younger generation of innovative, tech-savvy talent.

However, the use of this interview technique has quickly evolved way beyond career fairs. For example, General Mills created a virtual tour of its headquarters and Deutsche Bahn uses virtual reality to show candidates what it’s like to work at their company, especially at hard to fill roles such as train conductor and electrician.

Another good example is the use of virtual reality by Jaguar Land Rover. This company created a virtual reality app that test candidates skills.

Obviously, virtual interview technique offers many different possibilities, form testing your candidates’ skills, letting them experience first hand what’s it like to work at a certain role to giving them an office tour and showing off your company culture. All that in just one interview – amazing, right?

5. “Selling the job” interview

This interview technique was, until recently, reserved for recruiting C-level professionals. However, times have changed. The war for talent is raging, especially for scarce tech talent. This is why more and more employers are adopting a so-called “selling the job” interview technique.

This interviewing technique is used when you have a high level, top class candidate. In other words, when you know you have top talent on your hands, your main goal isn’t testing this candidate’s skills. Instead, you want to woo this type of candidates and sell them a job at your company.

This interview technique encompasses many different tactics, such as highlighting promotional opportunities, underscoring your company’s benefits, providing interesting details about your company’s history, mission and vision and your future plans, emphasizing your amazing company culture, etc.

In other words, when using this interview technique, you should present your employer brand and highlight your employee value proposition. Unfortunately, many employers make a mistake of talking on and on about their company and how great it is.

Instead, you should focus on candidates and their wants and needs and demonstrate how working at your company can make their dreams come true.

Once an employee is selected and placed on an appropriate job, the process of familiarizing him with the job and the organization is known as induction.

Induction is the process of receiving and welcoming an employee when he first joins the company and giving him basic information he needs to settle down quickly and happily and stars work.

Induction is welcoming a new employee to the organization. In other words, it is a well orches­trated event to socialise the new entrant with the people and the work environment in a particular organization.

According to Michael Armstrong “Induction is the process of receiving and welcoming an employee when he first joins a company and giving him basic information he needs to settle down quickly and happily and start work”.

B.P. Billimoria defined induction as “a technique by which a new employee is rehabilitated into the changed surroundings and introduced to the practices, policies and purposes of the organization.” In short, induction is, therefore, the process of welcoming, indoctrination and socialization of new employee to his/her job and organization.

Objectives of induction

• To help the new comer to overcome his shyness and overcome his shyness nervousness in meeting new people in a new environment.
• To give new comer necessary information such as location of a café, rest period etc.
• To build new employee confidence in the organization.
• It helps in reducing labor turnover and absenteeism.
• It reduces confusion and develops healthy relations in the organization.
• To ensure that the new comer do not form false impression and negative attitude towards the organization.
• To develop among the new comer a sense of belonging and loyalty to the organization.

The advantages of formal induction are:

• Induction helps to build up a two-way channel of communication between management and workers.
• Proper induction facilitates informal relation and team work among employee.
• Effective induction helps to integrate the new employee into the organization and to develop a sense of belonging.
• Induction helps to develop good relation.
• A formal induction programme proves that the company is taking interest in getting him off to good start.
• Proper induction reduces employee grievances, absenteeism and labor turnover.
• Induction is helpful in supplying information concerning the organization, the job and employee welfare facilities.

Contents of induction Programme

• Brief history and operations of the company.
• The company’s organization structure.
• Policies and procedure of the company.
• Products and services of the company.
• Location of department and employee facilities.
• Safety measures.
• Grievances procedures.
• Benefits and services of employee.
• Standing orders and disciplinary procedures.
• Opportunities for training, promotions, transfer etc.
• Suggestion schemes.
• Rules and regulations

Types of Induction

Basically there are two types of inductions, Formal induction and Informal induction.

1. Formal induction

Formal induction  is a planned attempt to introduce new employees to the organization, job and the working environment. This induction type may consume more time of the superiors to learn and deliver the new employees needs at the beginning. But this may create new employees less number of errors at the working period and good coordination among all the parties. At this type of program, new employee may get know, who are the most experienced person to have the solution of the particular problem new employee might has. At the very beginning new employees are having lots of questions as same as kids at small ages. That is full normal thing and common thing, because the new employee needs to get know all the things, he may actually needs or not. CEO, GM, Section/Department Heads, Senior Managers, and Line Managers may involve in to the formal induction program. (From top management to bottom line). This will deliver fundamental things that new employees need to know. Advantage of the formal induction program is organization will have the better chance to win the new employees’ loyalty at the very beginning. And also new employee will have the chance to carry his/her works clearly, with less numbers of errors. Also, new employee will fit to the organizational culture and the work group easily, and strongly.

2. Informal induction

Informal induction is not planned and is ad hock. New employees learn through trial and error method. They get familiar with the work and work environment by themselves. This induction type will make the stress on new employee at the very beginning, because of his/her not knowing things at the operations. So in that case, new employee may leave the organization at the beginning and then the organization may need to follow all the process of recruiting and new employee to the organization. Also this method will create a large number of errors making by new employee and then it may creates big losses to the organization. Those are the disadvantages of informal induction program. The advantage of informal induction is, if the new employee survived, then he/she may know the process by his/her experience, and the later on errors may minimize. But at the beginning the vice verse thing of above advantage may creates loses, if the new employee unable to survive at the organization. At the movements which employees couldn’t survive, there could be see they are leaving organization at the beginning they have joined to it. So this will creates high labor turn over too.

Phases of induction programme

A carefully designed induction programme consists of the following three phases:

1. General Induction

This first phase of induction is conducted by the HR department. The focus of the induction is to expose the new entrant to the organization by explaining him the mission, objectives, history and philosophy of the organization. The new employees is also briefed about his service conditions, pay and perks, promotion procedure, personnel policies and grievance handling mechanism practised in the organization. This phase of induction inculcates pride for the employee to work in the organization. The period of induction, depending on the organization, may vary from a few days to few weeks.

2. Specific Induction

This induction is given by the new employee’s supervisor. The focus is on the overall exposition of the new employee to his job. Accordingly, the employee is introduced to the job, shown place of work and around the premises, introduced to his co-workers and briefed about the procedures and methods, custom and routines, rules and regulations regarding his job. This training/ induction help the new employee adjust with his work environment. The induction may last for few weeks or even months.

3. Follow-up induction

The main objective of the follow-up induction is to verify whether the new employee is getting himself adjusted with the work and organization or not. This induction is given by the employee’s supervisor or a qualified specialist on industrial psychology.

While giving induc­tion training, the employee’s suggestions on adequacy or otherwise of the already conducted induc­tion programmes and on any other related aspects, if any, are duly taken into consideration to make the induction more and more effective. Such feedback can also be used to assess the requirements of guidance and counseling for the new entrants. The duration of follow-up induction may vary from some weeks to few months.

Giving induction to the new employees is essential but is not so simple. Only carefully designed and implemented induction programmes are observed effective.

Following are some of the requisites of an effective induction programme:

1. Receiving new employees

The new employees need to be duly received by the organization. This inculcates a feeling in the new entrants that they are required in the organization. Such a feeling serves as a comer stone to be interested to integrate into the organization.

2. Determining the new employees’ need for information

The central element that guides the designing of an induction programme is to decide first “What do the new employees need to know now?” Many a times, the new employees are given information which is not immediately required but the required one is not given. Such information lack tends to make the new comer confused about the job and the organization. Therefore, it is important to decide the vital information a new entrant needs to receive on his joining the organization.

3. Determining how to present the information

Having being decided what information em­ployees want, the next important thing to be decided is how to present the same to the new employees. Obviously, the required information needs to be presented to the new employees in the right form and manner so as to have its maximum intact on the employees.

4. Delivering induction training by the right instructor

Much of the effectiveness of an induction programme depends on who conducts the induction training. This is because induction training cannot be given by anyone, but by the right instructor/trainer only. Possession of the re­quired skill, knowledge and attitude are considered to be the requisites of a right instructor. Therefore, the induction programme needs to be conducted by the right trainer only. If required the trainer be given induction training before he/she conducts the induction training for the new entrants to the organization.

5. Evaluating the induction programme

Like all other training programmes, whether or not an induction programme is effective is determined by evaluating the programme. This is necessary to know to decide whether to continue the programme in future also or not or whether the programme needs any improvement in future. In fact, it is the evaluation of the induction programme that makes the organisation know whether the amount incurred in induction programme remains as an expendi­ture or has turned into an investment’.

10 Ways to Improve your Employee Induction Process

Your employee induction process is often what makes or breaks an employee’s experience at a company. A great induction or on boarding experience helps settle your new employee in, and avoid workplace issues in the future. Here are 10 tips to make it great!

A successful employee induction process sets up an employee for a great experience with your company; however, if this process does not go so well, it is more likely your new employee will have a difficult time at your company, perhaps even resigning down the track.

For this reason, employee onboarding should be taken quite seriously. You need to quickly determine what you can do to maximize the likelihood that an employee will be successful with the company and then focus your induction around these activities.

Here are methods to add to your employee induction checklist to ensure a great on boarding experience for your next hire.

1. Prepare an induction checklist

When we first started, we’d just try and remember what we needed to take a new employee through. Now, we have a 3 page document that outlines pre-start (things like computer set-up, email set-up, etc) on the first day (show emergency exits, explain software, etc) and first week (training sessions, larger overview of organization).

It needn’t even be that long, however I would recommend at least some form of checklist that covers the basics of your employee induction process. For example, you can include items such as;

• Introduction to team leader or direct manager
• Performance standards and expectations of new employee
• Office/work times
• Introduction to team members
• Team roles and responsibilities
• Organisational chart
• Layout of office – I use a hand drawn map where people sit, and put their names and roles on there too.
• Security issues and access to the office
• Safety procedures

2. Make them feel welcome

It’s quite easy to become so fixated on getting your new employee up-to-speed that you forget to encourage them to feel welcome. There are a number of activities you can do, besides the usual ‘walk around and introduce them to everyone’. For example;

• Get the team together and go around in the group and ask each individual to tell everyone something unique about themselves.
• Buy a couple of helium balloons and tie them to the new employee’s desk. Get everyone to sign a ‘welcome to the team’ card.
• Enjoy a team lunch on their first day
• Post a welcome on your company social media accounts.

Have a job description

A job description doesn’t need to be long and academic. I prefer a one single page approach, where we list the most important duties, as well as experience and skills.

For example, we keep ours strictly to one page with the following headings;

• Role title
• Last updated
• Authored by
• Position statement (literally a few paragraphs)
• Key tasks (normally a list of dot points)
• Role requirements

These needn’t be long, however it is very important they are truly reflective of the role; I make a point of reviewing these every year with the people who are actually employed in these roles.

3. Encourage your whole team to be involved

When many people think of employee induction, they have a vision of sitting in a conference room while a single presenter delivers a long-winded PowerPoint presentation for hours on end.

We encourage a different approach. Sure, have a checklist as I’ve mentioned above, however encourage different topic experts to deliver each segment, and spread it over a few days, to avoid overwhelming your new employee all in one day.

4. Discuss your company values and vision

In the first few days, it is vital that you sit down with the new employee, and take them through your company values and vision and what they all mean. Ask your recruit what the values mean to them, and if they have any questions.

You will find this a lot easier if you prepare a good document that helps explain your company values beforehand. We’ve written an article, Creating company values that boost company culture which goes into depth on this topic.

5. Encourage social interaction with your team

If you can, ensure that your new person has a team member or two that they can rely on to ask questions and help them settle in. It’s a good idea to encourage the team to all pitch in and help with the small things, such as good places nearby to eat, etc.

One activity we always try to do is have a Friday drinks at the end of the new employees first week. This gives the team a chance to unwind together, and interact with their new colleague in a relaxed and friendly environment.

6. Outline your expectations clearly

Although your role description will carry some of the detail, it is important to lead each employee through the expectations you for them, along with why they are important to the company success.

For example, if you have a policy around booking leave in advance, ensure you explain the policy (bonus points if you have it documented somewhere!) and give a reason why, for example ‘We ask that people give four weeks notice, so we can prepare your colleagues to cover your workload effectively whilst you are away’.

There are many situations that policies or at least documentation could be created for the benefit of communication. Anything you expect, you cannot just assume that new hires, or even existing employees, will just now by instinct.

7. Look for creative ways to welcome your new hire

For example, at Australian startup, Appbot, they give all new employees a gift of a ‘cubebot’. See this article, How Appbot works on creating a great culture, written by one of the co-founders, for more information on that.

At Bonobos, the hiring manager sends out an e-mail to the entire company introducing a new employee. The e-mail includes a brief biography and a photograph of the employee. It also includes a trivia game that is called “Two truths and a lie.”

These are fun facts about the new employee, but only two of the three are true. In order to figure out the lie, employees are encouraged to meet the new employee. The first person to identify the lie correctly gets a $25 store credit.

8. Follow up regularly

Don’t just complete your first weeks induction and leave it! Schedule a face to face with the new employee after a few weeks, and find out what is going on with them, what challenges they have found integrating with your team, etc.

It is vital in those early days that you are easily accessible by any new employee, so they can learn and understand your expectations and vision for the team.

9. Ask your new employee for feedback

The best way to improve your employee induction process is to ask your recent hires about their experiences.

For example, these three questions normally yield some good answers;

• What is something you wish we had explained better in the first week?
• What’s one piece of advice you would give to the next person who is hired?
• How could we have done a better job of your induction? What could be improved?

This gives you great feedback to consider and include in your future inductions, as your team grows.

10. Summary

New employees need to feel at home, and become as productive as possible in the shortest amount of time. A little effort from management and some planning around your employee induction process can reap the rewards for everyone, quickly.

The nine points we raised, again are;

• Prepare an induction checklist
• Make them feel welcome
• Have a job description
• Encourage your whole team to be involved
• Discuss your company values and vision
• Encourage social interaction with your team
• Outline your expectations clearly
• Look for creative ways to welcome your new hire
• Follow up regularly
• Ask your new employee for feedback

Orientation

Orientation is the process through which new recruits are introduced to their jobs, workplace, co-workers, and responsibilities. Effective employee orientation answers any questions or concerns a new colleague may have, makes them aware of company policies and expectations, and eases them comfortably into their new positions.

Main Objectives of Orientation

• An orientation program is a one-time event lasting up to a week where it focuses on what role a new employee will play in the company.
• It is a conference-style event bringing together new recruits and explaining them the main objectives of the company.
• Information is being delivered through presentations and Q&A sessions.

Purpose of orientation:

• Introduction to the company’s mission, values, and vision. This can be done by the long-tenured employees by giving presentations.
• Employee paperwork completion which is mandatory. Also collecting and answering any questions the new employees have.
• Making new employees understand their job responsibilities and expectations.
• Introducing the benefits that a new employee will get and how to use them. This can be done by the HR representative. And it also gives them a sense of job satisfaction.
• Building strong relationships with fellow colleagues and co-workers. This will help the new recruits work more efficiently.

Advantages of Orientation

• Helping the new employees get acclimatized to their new workplace and giving them a physical tour. This helps them to have this basic idea of where the necessary tools are.
• Introducing company policies and procedures so that new employees follow the rules and maintain decorum within the organization.
• Orientation helps an organization to figure out what really does a new employee need. When an HR representative knows what problems a new recruit is facing, they can quickly work on it and solve the problem.
• When you focus on helping a new employee get settled in their new workplace they feel more valued and they trust the company culture.

Onboarding

Onboarding is a thorough process where new employees are introduced to their respective department. They learn their work by attending meetings and starter projects with co-workers. Managers can schedule regular meetings to check-up on their new employees so that they become comfortable in asking about work-related queries.

Main Objectives of Onboarding

• Onboarding is a continuous process with a series of events that can last up to 3 months or more.
• During the onboarding process, individuals get assigned to their respective departments.
• One important point to keep in mind is that orientation falls under onboarding.

Here are a few points that are accomplished during onboarding:

• Helps the new employee settle in their new workplace.
• Increase the productivity of an employee for better results.
• The employees get more time to understand their work and their objectives.
• It is mainly focused on a particular individual rather than all the new recruits.
• At the end of the onboarding process, new recruits are ready to contribute to the company’s cause.

Advantages of Onboarding

• Supporting new hires in their projects and letting them know about their career options is always a good idea. You can also show them how they can achieve it. It drives the engagement of the new employees.
• It helps in employee retention. With good onboarding programs, miscommunications and misunderstandings tend to reduce. And it also helps them to quickly acclimatize in their new environment.
• With an effective onboarding program, new employees understand their duties and roles at work giving them a clear picture of what they need to do. This ultimately helps in boosting the company’s bottom line.
• Onboarding programs help to reduce the stress of new recruits. This is done by laying out daily tasks and providing them with tools to improve their skills. This way things become more clear for them and helps them to achieve their respective targets.

What really is the difference?

If we look at the definition and take consideration of the major points, there is no major difference between these. Both are almost similar and very essential for a company when they recruit new employees. Orientation falls under onboarding and it is one of the stages of it where new employees learn about the company and their job responsibilities.

Both of these have the same objective but the only difference is their timing and the way it is implemented. Orientation is the process done immediately after an employee joins in to make aware of the company culture and the work they need to do. It can last up to a week or month. Whereas, onboarding is a thorough process done in their respective departments. It can last up to 3 months or a year.

Conclusion

What we can see from the above-mentioned points is that both onboarding and orientation compliment each other and help a new recruit settle in well. They both help the new employees to understand their work and the culture they will be working in.

You need orientation for the new employees to get familiar with the organization. And you need onboarding to get the new employees invested in their day-to-day work schedule.

When used together, orientation and onboarding help establish clearer goals and role objectives, job satisfaction and organizational commitment, which can help lower employee stress and turnover.

A well-organized orientation and onboarding process helps you to foster employee engagement so that you can take the best out of your new recruits.

Career-counseling expert John Holland says that personality (including values, motives, and needs) is one career choice determinant. For example, a person with a strong social orientation might be attracted to careers that entail interpersonal rather than intellectual or physical activities and to occupations such as social work.

Based on research with his Vocational Preference Test (VPT), Holland found six basic types of orientations.

1. Realistic Orientation

These people are attracted to occupations that involve physical activities requiring skill, strength, and cooperation. Examples include forestry, farming, and agriculture.

2. Investigative Orientation

Investigative people are attracted to careers that involve cognitive activities (thinking, organizing, and understanding) rather than affecting activities (feeling, acting or interpersonal and emotional tasks). Examples include biologist, chemist and college professor.

3. Social Orientation

These people are attracted to careers that involve interpersonal rather than intellectual or physical activities. Examples include clinical psychology, foreign Service and social work.

4. Conventional Orientation

A conventional orientation favors careers that involve structured, rule-regulated activities as well as careers in which it is expected that the employee subordinates his or her personal needs to those of the organization. Examples include accountants and bankers.

5. Enterprising Orientation

Verbal activities aimed at influencing others characterize enterprising personalities. Examples include managers, lawyers, and public relations executives.

6. Artistic Orientation

People here are attracted to careers that involve self-expression, artistic creation, expression of emotions and individualistic activities. Examples include artists, advertising executives, and musicians.

Most people have more than one occupational orientation (they might be realistic, social and investigative) and Holland believes that the more similar or compatible these orientations are, the less internal conflict or indecision a person will face in making a career choice.

Types of Onboarding

There are many different types of onboarding programs which are implemented by different organizations to accomplish the same goal to introduce a new employee to the organization concerned to prepare him/her for a constructive role in realizing the organizational goals.

The most common type of program includes a brief orientation session where a new hire completes necessary paperwork and receives relevant handouts that explain the company’s mission, policies, and expectations. Other programs include formal training sessions, mentorship programs, leadership involvement, and other similar initiatives aimed at involving successful, senior-level employees in the orientation process.

Usually, smaller companies do not have the necessary resources to implement an effective and formal onboarding program. Therefore, new hires are often given a brief introduction to the company and then expected to learn through the well-known trialand- error process.

As there are different types of employee onboarding, there are also various faces of onboarding. Let us understand in detail about various faces of employee onboarding.

1. Regular Employee Onboarding

Often referred to as organizational socialization, employee onboarding refers to the process through which new employees gather the necessary knowledge, skills and behavior to become an efficient part of the existing team.

With the human resource market estimating that 50% of hiring failures occur within 18 months on the job for positions other than the senior level, companies big and small, are making sure their employees aren’t one of the 25% of the population that looks for career transitions every year.

2. User / Consumer Onboarding

The onboarding process used to increase the likelihood of a new user successfully adopting your product/ service after purchase is known as user onboarding. The primary reason behind businesses making it a vital part of their marketing strategy is retention.

User retention is important today because almost each product/ service out there has at least a hundred alternatives with competitive offerings and prices. Most businesses lose out on their users in the first two months of the purchase either because the post sales experience was disappointing for the consumer or the consumer simply didn’t understand how to make the most out of his or her purchase.

3. Client Onboarding

One of the most critical functions for B2C as well as B2B companies, client onboarding directly impacts the client experience, servicing, and relationships leading to increased acceptance. Every client has different expectations, goals, objectives and grasp of the product or service you are offering; making it a must to include a self-introduction while onboarding them.

Process of Orientation

Your business will only be successful if you hire the right people and give them the proper training. One of the most important parts of that initial training is the employee orientation process. Orientation typically refers to the process of induction of new hires or the introduction of current employees to new technologies, procedures and policies at the workplace. The employee orientation process must be comprehensive and must provide information that includes expected performance, working hours, benefits, breaks, regulations and other important matters. Understanding the stages of the employee orientation process can help you improve the way you handle this all-important aspect of your business.

1. The Pre-Orientation Stage

Although all the levels of orientation are essential, some companies skip the pre-orientation stage for new hires, and that could be a mistake. Pre-orientation begins before the start date of your new employees and involves sending a package of information via email or postal service. This package typically includes documents such as an organizational chart, vision statement, mission statement, explanation of benefits, annual report and a checklist of what the actual orientation will cover. Sending a pre-orientation package increases the level of comfort your new hires will have when they arrive to work on their first day, and it allows them to prepare questions in advance. Some companies also include a small giveaway in the package, such as a company mug or T-shirt, which can help create a sense of camaraderie.

2. The Introduction to the Job-Site Stage

In this orientation stage, your goal is to make new hires comfortable in their new work environment. In the first part of this orientation stage, new recruits are given information about your company’s aims, objectives, culture, organizational structure, strategic plan, customer base and future goals. The second part of this orientation stage typically is a tour of the workplace, including seeing equipment, identifying potential safety hazards, and meeting some of the managers and supervisors in each department. The purpose of this job-site orientation is to make your new hires familiar with the basic layout of the company and to understand the general precepts that govern how the workplace functions. This orientation usually takes a day to complete.

3. The Job-Specific Orientation Stage

In this stage, new hires are given job- or task-specific orientation, typically by their immediate supervisor. New employees learn details about their specific department or team, including information about breaks, absences, parking facilities, personal phone calls, email and internet policy, as well as the standards of performance for their work. The goal is to shrink the orientation to the actual tasks that the new employee will perform, with an understanding of the normal workday processes that will ensure maximum efficiency. In some instances, you may want to assign a “buddy” to your new hire. This buddy’s job is to become a guide during the new hire’s first weeks or months of work, answering questions, acting as a sounding board, and relaying critical information about projects and deadlines.

4. The Follow-Up Orientation Stage

Although there are multiple levels of orientation that last several days, the truth is that new hire orientation is a months-long process. That’s why the follow-up stage is so critical – it allows you to determine how well your new employee is adjusting to the job. Follow-up usually occurs on a weekly basis. Supervisors or managers meet with the new employee to discuss any issues and problems that have arisen. Supervisors should encourage new employees to ask questions and honestly express challenges they are facing. The follow-up orientation stage lets you determine how well your employee is performing assigned duties and also reveals how well your company has done in providing all the tools and help necessary for new hires to flourish. Of all the levels of orientation, this one is most critical to long-term success.

Process of Onboarding

First impressions can have a lasting impact. Your company’s employee onboarding process is your chance to make a good first impression with new employees. This process should be about making the new employee feel welcomed, valued and prepared to succeed in their new role. A recent report by the Society for Human Resource Management showed that 1 in 25 employees leave their new jobs because of bad onboarding experiences. 

Poor onboarding can have many disastrous effects. It can set a new employee up for failure, inhibit workplace efficiency and change an employee’s outlook on your company. The result can be high cost and even higher turnover rates.

Here are seven ways to improve your onboarding process for employee success.

1. Prepare colleagues for the new employee

Prior to the new employee’s first day, send an announcement to all employees, either in-person or via email, welcoming them to the company. The announcement should tell them the new employee’s role, a bit about their experience, what they’ll be doing at your company and encourage other employees to welcome them.

When employees are aware of a new staff member ahead of time, they can be prepared to assist them on their first day. This will go a long way to making the new employee feel welcomed.

2. Have the new employee’s workstation ready to go

Having a “home base” that is ready for your new arrival is crucial to an employee’s first impression of your company. As a new employee, nothing is worse than not having the tools you need to be successful. Setting up the new employee’s computer, email and phone numbers ahead of time, and providing any necessary office supplies, can help a new colleague feel valued from day one. This gives the new employee the tools to perform at their best.

3. Make sure your new employee has access to any necessary programs

In line with getting their workstation ready, make sure the new employee has access to any programs, software or electronic files they will need before their first day. Skipping this step can stunt the new employee’s training, stall their ability to get to work and, in turn, affect their outlook on your company.

4. Make introductions

Schedule some time for the new employee to meet with key people and departments on their first day. Although they may not remember everyone’s name, this will give them a good overview of where to go to get what they need. These introductions will also help them understand how your company works and how their role plays in the overall picture.

5. Plan a team lunch

Arrange a lunch meeting or after-work gathering for the new employee and their immediate team members within the first week. This will help break the ice and allow the employee to get to know their new colleagues in a relaxed environment. You don’t even need to leave the office for this step – employees can bring their lunch and gather in a conference room. Take the time to learn a little bit about your new employee outside of the interview process. When an employee feels valued by their team on both a personal and professional level, they are more likely to stick around for the long haul. 

6. Allow plenty of time for training

The first week or so with the new employee should focus on training. Even if the employee has performed the same job function elsewhere, there are bound to be differences between companies. Having a training plan in place is a vital part of helping new employees find their feet in an organization. Your training should cover company rules, processes, procedures and expectations. Detailing what is expected for new employees sets a precedent by which they can measure their comfort in their new role.

Assigning a mentor from the employee’s department can also help them acclimate to their job by giving them a person who is ready to answer their questions and walk them through some of their assignments.

7. Don’t forget to follow-up

This step is the most important and often the most overlooked by employers. Commit to your 30, 60 and 90-day check-ins with the new employee. Even if the employee is doing well and you feel like they don’t need an evaluation, meet with them. This is your opportunity to learn more about your company’s onboarding process from the employee perspective. Find out what they liked and didn’t like about your process and make changes as you see fit.

Successful onboarding processes reflect the time and effort put into them. Take the time to be thoughtful and do your homework. The first few weeks are the most influential to a new hire’s outlook on your company – positive or negative – and sets the tone for their relationship with your business in the long-term.

It is the process of adaptation. It is the process by which new employees attempt to learn and inculcate the norms and values of work roles in an organization. Learning and inculcating the norms and values of work group are necessary for proper adjustment and job performance.

Socialisation is a comprehensive process. According to Horton and Hunt, Socialisation is the process whereby one internalises the norms of his groups, so that a distinct ‘self emerges, unique to this individual.

Through the process of socialisation, the individual becomes a social person and attains his personality. Green defined socialisation “as the process by which the child acquires a cultural content, along with selfhood and personality”.

According to Lundberg, socialisation consists of the “complex processes of interaction through which the individual learns the habits, skills, beliefs and standard of judgement that are necessary for his effective participation in social groups and communities”.

Peter Worsley explains socialisation “as the process of “transmission of culture, the process whereby men learn the rules and practices of social groups”.

H.M. Johnson defines socialisation as “learning that enables the learner to perform social roles”. He further says that it is a “process by which individuals acquire the already existing culture of groups they come into”.

The heart of socialisation”, to quote kingsley Davis.” is the emergence and gradual development of the self or ego. It is in terms of the self that personality takes shape and the mind comes to function”. It is the process by which the newborn individual, as he grows up, acquires the values of the group and is moulded into a social being.

Socialisation takes place at different stages such as primary, secondary and adult. The primary stage involves the socialisation of the young child in the family. The secondary stage involves the school and the third stage is adult socialisation.

Socialisation is, thus, a process of cultural learning whereby a new person acquires necessary skills and education to play a regular part in a social system. The process is essentially the same in all societies, though institutional arrangements vary. The process continues throughout life as each new situation arises. Socialization is the process of fitting individuals into particular forms of group life, transforming human organism into social being sand transmitting established cultural traditions.

• Socialization is based on several assumptions
• New employee suffer from anxiety and require adjustment.
• Socialization strongly affects employee programme and stability of organization.

Types of Socialisation

Although socialisation occurs during childhood and adolescence, it also continues in middle and adult age. Orville F. Brim (Jr) described socialisation as a life-long process. He maintains that socialisation of adults differ from childhood socialisation. In this context it can be said that there are various types of socilisation.

1. Primary Socialisation

Primary socialisation refers to socialisation of the infant in the primary or earliest years of his life. It is a process by which the infant learns language and cognitive skills, internalises norms and values. The infant learns the ways of a given grouping and is moulded into an effective social participant of that group.

The norms of society become part of the personality of the individual. The child does not have a sense of wrong and right. By direct and indirect observation and experience, he gradually learns the norms relating to wrong and right things. The primary socialisation takes place in the family.

2. Secondary Socialisation

The process can be seen at work outside the immediate family, in the ‘peer group’. The growing child learns very important lessons in social conduct from his peers. He also learns lessons in the school. Hence, socialisation continues beyond and outside the family environment. Secondary socialisation generally refers to the social training received by the child in institutional or formal settings and continues throughout the rest of his life.

3. Adult Socialisation

In the adult socialisation, actors enter roles (for example, becoming an employee, a husband or wife) for which primary and secondary socialisation may not have prepared them fully. Adult socialisation teaches people to take on new duties. The aim of adult socialisation is to bring change in the views of the individual. Adult socialisation is more likely to change overt behaviour, whereas child socialisation moulds basic values.

4. Anticipatory Socialisation

Anticipatory socialisation refers to a process by which men learn the culture of a group with the anticipation of joining that group. As a person learns the proper beliefs, values and norms of a status or group to which he aspires, he is learning how to act in his new role.

5. Re-socialisation

Re-Socialisation refers to the process of discarding former behaviour patterns and accepting new ones as part of a transition in one’s life. Such re-socialisation takes place mostly when a social role is radically changed. It involves abandonment of one way of life for another which is not only different from the former but incompatible with it. For example, when a criminal is rehabilitated, he has to change his role radically.

Stages of Socialisation

1. Pre arrival stage

It recognizes that all the new recruits arrive in the organization with a set of values, norms, expectations and learning. This includes both the work to be done and the organization. For example in a business schools, student acquire certain idea’s regarding the nature of their future jobs, pay packages, and carrier progress. At the recruitment stage many organizations give job preview which helps the prospective employees to learn more about the job and the organization.

2. Encounter stage

When the new employees join the organization, he encounter the realities of the situation in term of his job, work culture, subordinates and peer’s. if the expectations of the individual are in the tune with the organizational realities, he adapt organization quickly. On the other hand, if there is a marked difference between expectations and realities, socialization is essential to replace his previous assumptions with realities. At the other extreme, the individual cannot recognize with the values and norms of the organization and quits the job.

3. Metamorphosis stage

In this stage, the new employee acquire the skills require to adjust with the values and norms of the organization. He brings necessary change in his attitude and role behaviour to suit the organization’s culture. Such changes make the employee self confident and he feels accepted by other member’s of the organization. The completion of socialization process is characterized by fellings.

Theories of Socialisation

1. Development of Self and Personality

Personality takes shape with the emergence and development of the ‘self’. The emergence of self takes place in the process of socialisation whenever the individual takes group values.

The self, the core of personality, develops out of the child’s interaction with others. A person’s ‘self is what he consciously and unconsciously conceives himself to be. It is the sum total of his perceptions of himself and especially, his attitudes towards himself. The self may be defined as one’s awareness of and ideas and attitudes about his own personal and social identity. But the child has no self. The self arises in the interplay of social experience, as a result of social influences to which the child, as he grows, becomes subject.

In the beginning of the life of the child there is no self. He is not conscious of himself or others. Soon the infant feels out the limits of the body, learning where its body ends and other things begin. The child begins to recognise people and tell them apart. At about the age of two it begins to use ‘I’ which is a clear sign of definite self-consciousness that he or she is becoming aware of itself as a distinct human being.

Primary groups play crucial role in the formation of the self of the newborn and in the formation of the personality of the newborn as well. It can be stated here that the development of self is rooted in social behaviour and not in biological or hereditary factors.

In the past century sociologists and psychologists proposed a number of theories to explain the concept of self.

There are two main approaches to explain the concept of self – Sociological approach and: Psychological approach.

2. Charles Horton Cooley

Charles Horton Cooley believed, personality arises out of people’s interactions with the world. Cooley used the phrase “Looking Glass Self’ to emphasise that the self is the product of our social interactions with other people.

To quote Cooley, “As we see our face, figure and dress in the glass and are interested in them because they are ours and pleased or otherwise with according as they do or do not answer to what we should like them to be; so in imagination we perceive in another’s mind some thought of our appearance, manners, aims, deeds, character, friends and so on and variously affected by it”.

Features of Socialisation

Socialisation not only helps in the maintenance and preservation of social values and norms but it is the process through which values and norms are transmitted from one generation to another generation.

Features of socialisation may be discussed as under:

1. Inculcates basic discipline

Socialisation inculcates basic discipline. A person learns to control his impulses. He may show a disciplined behaviour to gain social approval.

2. Helps to control human behaviour

It helps to control human behaviour. An individual from birth to death undergoes training and his, behaviour is controlled by numerous ways. In order to maintain the social order, there are definite procedures or mechanism in society. These procedures become part of the man’s/life and man gets adjusted to the society. Through socialisation, society intends to control the behaviour of its-members unconsciously.

3. Socialisation is rapid if there is more humanity among the- agencies of socialisation

Socialisation takes place rapidly if the agencies’ of socialisation are more unanimous in their ideas and skills. When there is conflict between the ideas, examples and skills transmitted in home and those transmitted by school or peer, socialisation of the individual tends to be slower and ineffective.

4. Socialisation takes place formally and informally

Formal socialisation takes through direct instruction and education in schools and colleges. Family is, however, the primary and the most influential source of education. Children learn their language, customs, norms and values in the family.

5. Socialisation is continuous process

Socialisation is a life-long process. It does not cease when a child becomes an adult. As socialisation does not cease when a child becomes an adult, internalisation of culture continues from generation to generation. Society perpetuates itself through the internalisation of culture. Its members transmit culture to the next generation and society continues to exist.

The process of socialization within organizations is designed to quickly help newcomers orient and familiarize themselves with company procedures. If you have ever been on the receiving end of an effective initiation program, then you know how helpful it can be in helping with early adjustment. The science shows that effective early socialization can affect long term organizational outcomes. Recent research investigated how organizations can use certain organizational socialization tactics to positively influence such outcomes.

Organizational Socialization Tactics

There are three major domains that encompass socialization tactics within organizations. These include collective and formal tactics, which concern the context of newcomer socialization, sequential and fixed tactics, which deal with the content of information provided, and finally, investiture and serial tactics which concern social aspects of the process. These three domains should be designed to reduce the uncertainty of newcomers. The researchers hypothesized that these tactics are related to the extent to which newcomers will experience a clear sense of what is expected of them and what they should do on the job. In turn, they investigated whether giving employees clear expectations influences employees’ sense of competency at a later time.

Trust and Relationships

Trust forms an important element of organizational effectiveness. For example, when people trust supervisors and co-workers, they are more likely to feel comfortable and to fully engage at work. Entry periods into organizations are critical times for facilitating the formation of trusting relationships. There is a mental and emotional element to these relationships. Emotional trust is considered a more powerful form of trust, as it becomes more important in long term outcomes. The researchers sought to understand whether trust-building tactics also impact employees’ sense of commitment to the organization.

Results

The researchers found that when newcomers had a clear sense of what was required of them in the organization, they later reported more competent performance on the job. They also found that emotional-based trust relationships with supervisors or co-workers improved the relationship between socialization tactics and organizational commitment. The implication here is that initial processes that help newcomers build trusting relationships can later go on to affect commitment to that organization.

Tips for Organizations

The results highlight the necessity for organizations to ensure that they have a two-pronged approach to helping newcomers adjust to the work environment. This requires helping newcomers understand what is required of them and how to adopt effective strategies for dealing with work tasks. Also important is the need to give newcomers the opportunity to build significant relationships with organizational insiders. By realizing this, organizations can facilitate newcomer adjustment as well as foster greater organizational commitment.

1. Collaborative hiring: Referrals & Internal mobility

There’s a reason why they say two heads are better than one. When it comes to recruitment, involving your entire team in the recruitment process can be of tremendous value.

Just think of the potential that could come out of the combined (personal) networks of your team members, for example.

This is one of the reasons we see an increase in employee referrals and employee referral programs and companies that provide AI driven technology to automate your employee referral efforts.

Referred hires generally are (among other things) more productive, more engaged and less likely to leave.

Given the current market situation, it seems only natural for companies to increase their focus on collaborative hiring even more this year.

The same thing goes for internal mobility programs.

Although not that many organizations have a (well-developed) internal mobility culture and program in place yet, this can be a great way to meet skill shortages, decrease turnover and boost engagement.

2. Growing importance of recruitment marketing

As we’ve said, 21st-century recruiters need all the help they can get to find the best candidates. This explains the rise of recruitment marketing solutions.

Recruitment marketing  also called the pre-applicant stage of talent acquisition is the process of attracting and nurturing talent to your organization by marketing to them.

Just like the main goal of traditional marketing is to drive individuals to buy a company’s product or service, the primary objective of recruitment marketing is to get people to apply to your organization’s job openings.

We’ve already seen the use of certain marketing techniques in recruitment before (think of programmatic job advertising tools, for example). Now, however, companies increasingly turn to, let’s call them full-service recruitment marketing providers.  

This means a recruitment marketing solution that helps organizations strengthen their employer brand, reach candidates on social media and optimize their career sites (of course, there are many other possibilities depending on your company’s specific needs).

To stick with the marketing jargon: this year, we’ll continue to see a transition from outbound to inbound recruitment.

3. Attracting talent with transferable skills from outside your industry

With certain industries already struggling to find skilled people and a growing number of baby boomers retiring, recruiters have no choice but to look beyond the ‘borders’ of their industry to find people.

So rather than looking for relevant previous experience, recruiters will increasingly focus on transferable skills and hence (considerably) expand their potential talent pool.

4. AI

Yes, there it is again, artificial intelligence. And yes, we know you’ve probably been inundated with AI-related content. However, applications of AI in recruitment will become even more widespread in 2019.

This year, in one way or another, AI will become a must-have in the recruiter’s toolbox.

From automated candidate sourcing, recovery, and matching, to hiring remote workers and creating customized employee value propositions, the number of different uses of AI in recruitment just keeps growing.

5. Embracing the flexible workforce

For most organizations, their workforce already consists of a combination of full-timers, contractors, freelancers and everything in-between.

In the US alone, 36% of all workers (around 57 million people) are in the gig economy, a number that is likely to grow even more this year.

Independent workers like the fact that they can work anywhere they want, when they want and are often happier than ‘traditional’ employees. In fact, satisfaction levels for independents have never been as high as they are right now: 74% of independent workers say they are highly satisfied.

Technology, of course, is a big enabler of this kind of freelance work: people can use their smartphones, have free internet available in a lot of (coffee) places, and freelance platforms like Upwork, PeoplePerHour and Fiverr match freelancers with projects.

Especially when companies need to find skilled people urgently and in an industry where talent is scarce they’ll have to turn to freelancers, contractors, etc. to meet their needs.

On a positive note, working with freelancers can be a good way for a company to find out if they’d like those people to become full-time employees: if there is a mutual click, you may have found yourself a great new hire!

6. Diversity hiring

Like AI, diversity hiring is one of those themes that remain relevant in 2019. Diversity in the broadest sense of the word that is; gender, ethnicity, geographical and age.

Diversity and inclusion initiatives have proven to offer many benefits, such as improved employee happiness, productivity and retention and a positive reflection on your employer brand.

So this year, we’ll see more of said initiatives pop up think of a digital marketplace that connects women with employers, for example. We’ll also see an increase in the number of companies ramping up their diversity hiring efforts.

7. Building and sharing your mission

Do like Nike did, basically. The American sportswear giant took a stand last year when it used a black and white photograph of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick as a part of its advertising campaign to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ slogan.

Kaepernick caused quite the controversy back in 2016 when he kneeled during the national anthem to show his support for people of color in the United States and to bring attention to police brutality.

More than two-thirds of consumers believe that it’s important for brands to take a stance on certain political and social issues a number that is probably going to increase even more with the next generation of shoppers.

So, even if it meant they’d lose customers and people did indeed boycott Nike following the Kaepernick ad Nike chose sides.

It’s the same for employers.

Today’s workforce is on the lookout for mission-driven employers. People want more than just a paycheck from the organization they work for, they want to have a sense of purpose in their job.

And, just like today’s consumers, job seekers often want their own values to align with those of their company.

2019 will, therefore, see an increased focus of companies building and sharing their mission, taking stands and creating their own version of Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ to attract talent.

8. Hiring Gen Z

They’ve been entering the global workforce for a while now, although so far, mainly in internship and entry-level positions.

Slowly but surely though, Generation Z (the cohort that comes after the Millennials, born somewhere between the mid-’90s and the mid-2000s) is now finding its way into the workplace.

If your knowledge about these Digital Natives is a little rusty, you might want to bring it up to speed again, because this year the recruitment of Gen Z will, without a doubt, accelerate.

A few elements to keep in mind when it comes to hiring Generation Z are:

• They are one with their smartphones
• Adapt to their (short) attention span
• It’s all about video
• Don’t forget about health & wellness
• Think about their growth

To succeed in recruitment in 2019, make sure to consider these points when creating your recruitment strategy.

9. Data security

After the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union in May last year, it’s impossible to think of candidate (and employee) data without thinking of the protection of this data.

Whether companies like it or not, data security has now become a theme for every provider of recruitment technology that uses people’s data.

Since a lot of providers (if not all of them) use data and analytics, this means that virtually everyone needs to have a system in place to protect candidate data.

After all, companies had to be ready when the GDPR became effective last year.

This is true, of course, but the regulation does have implications for new features, technology, and solutions that are introduced to the market and that use data.

10. Hiring people with future-proof (soft) skills

This one consists of two elements. On the one hand, there is an increased focus on hiring people with future-proof skills. Think of complex problem-solving capabilities, critical thinking, cognitive flexibility, etc.

On the other hand, there has been more and more attention to people’s soft skills recently. It turns out, companies are often struggling to find talent with good soft skills (communication, listening, empathy, etc.).

Soft skills are personality-driven and they are what makes the difference between a good and a great candidate. After all, hard (tangible and technical) skills usually can be taught, while teaching someone how to show empathy is almost impossible…

As developments in technology are changing many industries rapidly, the demand for people with transferable, future-proof (as much as possible) and soft skills will rise.

11. A shift from job description-based hiring to project-based hiring

This is a result of several of the trends we’ve seen above, like the growing gig economy and the shift from experience-based hiring to hiring based on transferable & soft skills for instance.

Both of these developments are likely to change the way organizations manage their projects.

In a time where finding good full-time employees is hard and turnover often is high, it could make more sense to start hiring in a different way.

Based on projects rather than job descriptions, for example.

This has, among other things, the advantage of gathering those people who are the best in their field for each project. Instead of buying labor, organizations will actually be buying (and thus recruiting for) results.